The importance of Diversity in your workplace
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Diversity in the workplace is a lot more than race. It is the art of cultivating a workforce that can think individualistically yet find common ground on the ideas that are best for the future of the company. Appreciating diversity improves a company’s perspectives, skill sets and experiences. This brings about a company structure that is more adept to problem solving. Bear in mind that diversity is not just about race, it is about integrating a group of people from different social and economic backgrounds. Here are some key aspects that companies who are looking to improve diversity in their workplace must consider –

Take Note of the Prevalent Organizational Culture

Does your workplace culture encourage inclusiveness and diversity? There possibly will be insidious mind-sets and actions that culminate in driving a wedge between the staff, making some sets of workers feel unwelcome. Issues like these need to be tackled to preserve diversity in the staff. Use employee surveys and questionnaires to make an assessment about how workers feel on these issues as a way to determine problems, before these problems cause workers to feel the need to leave the workforce.

Flexible Work Schedules

A strict work schedule that only aids a certain set of people is bound to discourage diversity in the workplace. More flexibility in work schedules means that the company will be able to attract a wider pool of applicants. For instance, in jobs which primarily involve telecommuting, a flexible work schedule which incorporates on-site childcare helps in making the work easier for women. 

Retention is Crucial

A lot of companies suffer from this issue – even after finding and employing a diverse group of workers, companies notice that over time, only certain groups tend to bring in a big turnover and the organizational culture remains as homogeneous as it was before. Instead of only focusing on higher turnover rates, focusing on retention helps a company evolve. It makes way for workers to collaborate, improve and grow as a unit. If your company is facing this trend, focus on retention and cooperation amongst the workers.

Diversity Training

Diversity trainings can be extremely helpful for an organization. These training sessions educate workers on how to be more inclusive overall, addressing the big and the small workplace behavioural tendencies that can affect inclusiveness. These training sessions also help people realise the advantages of working in a diverse and inclusive environment.

In a recent study conducted by MIT economist Sara Ellison, (Source: http://news.mit.edu/2014/workplace-diversity-can-help-bottom-line-1007) it was revealed that companies who scored high on gender diversity rates were 15% more likely to experience additional economic returns as compared to other. Diverse companies also have a better chance of –

  • Recruiting and keeping top talent
  • Understanding and addressing the requirements of a diverse customer-base
  • Pushing better decision making in the workplace due to a bigger variety of perspectives

While there’s no guidebook on how to build a diverse workplace, these aforementioned steps in addition to a positive and open outlook will certainly help your cause.